the seattle scene.

I love Seattle…restaurants.  
Sure, the city has it quirks.  It has its awful drivers and passive aggressive residents, its fashion-phobic flannel wearers and constant gray skies.  But then it has its restaurants.  Low-key, mellow, accessible great food.  Some misses, mostly hits, but always fun to try.
Now, not all Seattle restaurants achieve this coveted Rachel-bestowed stamp of approval. [...]

westward, ho!

tomorrow marks the beginning of my cross-country road trip.  well, step one in my road trip is first flying back to seattle.  step two is moving out of my apartment.  and step three is getting in the car and driving east.  seems silly, i know.  i’m in NY now and my final destination is NY.  [...]

urban renewal.

“Goal oriented.” I think a fortune cookie once told me that’s what I am and I stuck with it ever since.
Want an iPhone? Get a job at the Apple Store. Want to be an urban hipster? Buy a new shirt.  Blah blah blah.
And Seattle? It’s been my goal since [...]

my culinary mecca.

Medical school is 7 weeks away. Seven weeks until anatomy lab and white coats and textbooks full of organic compounds and diseases and molecular formulas. Back to a life of flashcards and libraries and late night study sessions.
But seven weeks ago I had a very different life. Late nights were reserved for [...]

the CIA.

I drove up to see Chris at the CIA today.  The top-secret, heavily guarded Culinary Institute of America.  More about it tomorrow, but until then here’s a picture to whet your appetite.  Hey, it’s worth a thousand words…

the comforts of home.

ahh, the nostalgia of Locust Walk.

and the smell of the subway.

and the antiquated meters that take only coins.

and the rows of cars more expensive than my apartment.

mmm matzoh.

Passover, oh Passover.
358 days a year my parents pull their recipes from the pages of the New York Times and Gourmet Magazine. They keep up on the most up-to-date trends in food and stock our fridge accordingly. For the past two decades they have taught by example that you can maintain a traditional [...]

Star Struck.

Dinner last night at Momofuku was like every other dinner I’ve had there.  Crowded, long wait, delicious food.
Sure, not everything stayed the same.  The menu had changed slightly, I tried a new ramen dish, and I drank beer (gasp!).  And halfway through dinner I stopped my conversation mid-sentence and turned into a fit of giggles.  [...]

Sex and the Restaurant.

Sarah Jessica Parker stepped on my new messenger bag tonight.
…
John and I deliberated for twenty minutes and finally opted for one appetizer and two desserts.  Kaffir lime soufflé for me and the Black Forest Chocolate Cake for him.  “But no cherry compote, I’m allergic,” he added.
“Allergic?” I question.  Well, not quite…and the truth unfolded.  A [...]

Vetri, at long last.

The hype had been mounting for quite some time. Vetri is one of the top-rated restaurants in Philadelphia, its chef is a James Beard Award winner in 2005 for the Best Chef of the Mid-Atlantic and its front-of-house staff is up for a second award this year for Outstanding Service. Food and Wine [...]